Merry Christmas, Katniss
by mikaylaluv
Summary: As Katniss Mellark gets ready for a night with her new husband, Peeta, she reminisces on the past, when plans are changed, will that Winter Wonderland go to waste?  In that gray area between the final chapter and the Epilogue. AU to an extent


**This fic starts years after the revolution and also includes a bit of what I wished happened in those years after the revolution. This fic is dedicated to all the awesome Twitter friends I made while playing Katniss: PeetaTheBaker, JohannaPN7, GalePN12, PrimrosePN12, Solder_Gale, oolsie, ThatsJustMel, CatoPN2 , Lily_Grayson and more that I can't think of. **

xXx

Cinna would be beaming right now if he saw Katniss Everdeen - ahem, Mellark, if he saw what she was wearing right now. A Cinna original some people might say. It was a pretty red dress made out of velvet but there was a kicker. It was not just an ordinary dress, oh no. It was a _sexy Santa _costume. There was bright white fur decorated around her cheat and the bottom of the dress plus snowflakes that looked like it was falling down her skirt, along with a couple layers of some type of gauze with lace at the bottom to puff up the skirt. Katniss looked somewhat horrified at the heels, also had the same fur on them. She bit her lip and wandered into the bathroom where she attempted to style her hair and do her make-up.

Peeta was either in the studio down the street or at the bakery , so that gave Katniss just enough time to set up their "love nest" -as her mother and Greasy Sae called it- so Katniss and her new husband could spend their first Christmas together. Yes, new husband.

xXx

_There was a dark time before that beautiful wedding, sometime after the revolution, Katniss went into this state of depression, ignoring every and any phone calls, she wouldn't answer the door, nothing. She was declared a hopeless case by Haymitch, and life moved on. Sort of, Delly Cartright sought out Peeta and they "hooked up" for a short while. He eventually proposed to her and all that jazz. When Katniss read that headline, she was crushed. Peeta made no attempt to get her back. She found an invitation to the wedding on her front porch a few days later. _

_Katniss picked up the phone and shakily called her old prep team. They got to Katniss as fast as they could and engulfed her with hugs and kisses and tears. They asked her what was going on. "A wedding" she said simply. Octavia quickly grabbed her hand and was surprised and when she saw no ring. "Not mine…Peeta and…Delly's." she choked out. The three looked over at her, solemn that the two they all thought would be together until the end of time, were not even together. _

"_Of course we will help you, Katniss." Flavius whispered and rested his hand on her shoulder. _

"_The wedding is a week away..." she said. The three nodded and called up a friend of theirs who also arrived in District 12 just a day later with fabrics. Katniss was a bit lenient until Venia explained that the woman – who she found out whose name was Ginger – was a close friend of Cinna's. "What is with the spice names?" Katniss muttered to herself softly. _

_Soon enough, the wedding came and all seats were filled plus there was a crowd in the back of people who wanted to watch the wedding of a victor and a citizen. Katniss was dressed in a light blue dress that closely resembles the one she wore at the reaping, and her hair was pulled back with the same style of hair she wore at the reaping and she wore white flats. Her prep team was behind her, coaxing her to stay put and that she was going to be alright. Truthfully, Katniss wanted to tore out of there and hide back in the safety of her house. Katniss felt the soup she had for lunch slowly come back up, but she swallowed it back down with a sickly look on her face. _

_Then she saw him._

_In a crisp black suit and no cane was Peeta, the fake leg making a slight bulge in his pant leg but other than that his hair was clean and he just looked at peace. "Katniss? You okay?" Venia whispered softly and Katniss shook her head, her bottom lip trembling and the tears clouding her vision. Octavia wrapped an arm around her and looked around at her friends. They each whispered words of encouragement to her. The music started to play and Peeta walked over to his place and the crowd opened to reveal a true blushing bride, Delly was dressed in pure white, obviously Peeta got a hold of someone and had it custom made. Katniss was confused as to why to have this elaborate wedding, it isn't even how it's preformed here. This has to be a Capitol influenced wedding. "Where's the bread?" Katniss whispered. "You'll see. I did some research, Peeta is doing an traditional American wedding that is incorporated with district twelve, nothing has been done like this before." Octavia whispered back. Katniss have only heard of the original weddings America had a couple times and they were beautiful. She saw the rings glimmering on a satin pillow then she finally saw the roasted bread sitting next to it. _

_Delly walked down the aisle and over to Peeta who placed a hand on her back and kissed her cheek –here comes the soup again- and he walked with her up the next place, where Haymitch walked over and said a few words, mumbling something along the lines of "this should not be happening" as he walked off. Katniss felt herself being pushed towards the stage, "Wait…what? No" she kissed towards Flavius. She was then standing behind Peeta and Delly. Peeta looked over at her with a surprised face and delly just smiled. Katniss soon felt a cloth being pushed into her hands and she looked down there was the bread. She was going to present it to them? What kind of insult was this. "Katniss-" Peeta whispered before she felt herself drop the bread and tore off of stage, disapproving murmurs from the crowd were heard also the calling of her name was announced by her prep team. _

_Katniss ended up past the barbed wire and into the woods where she retched and the soup finally made its appearance again. Katniss grabbed her stomach with her free arm and swallowed back any extra bile. _

"_Katniss!" a voice was called and she almost started to run again before her arm was grasped and she turned around. "Peeta…" she whispered. She looked into those baby blue eyes and felt weak in the knees. "Why did you finally come out?" Peeta asked, "Why now?" _

_Katniss looked away, blinking back the tears. "Answer me Katniss." Peeta said._

"_I had to see you one last time.." Katniss whispered._

"_Last time? What do you mean by that?" Peeta asked, scanning her face._

"_I'm leaving…"_

"_Don't."_

"_You never came after me Peeta! How am I supposed to live here when you are married to another woman?"_

"_Katniss, we aren't getting married anymore. I started to pull away to come after you and Delly said if I did that, us and the wedding were off. The look in her eyes was crazed…I can't marry that." _

"_I still can't…"_

"_Katniss. You were my world back on that first day of school and you are now. I gave up because I couldn't bear to look at the shell of what was the girl I was in love with... Please don't leave…"  
><em>

_Katniss looked down and felt Peeta pull her into his arms and hugged her tightly, resting his cheek on the top of her head . Katniss sniffed and hugged him back as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. _

xXx

Katniss brushed out her hair one last time before putting the Santa hat on it she added a bit of gloss to her lips as she walked over to one of the boxes and picked it up and walked out of the room and down the stairs to the front door where she started setting out the fuzz leading back to the room and then started to put it everywhere. She then took out lily petals and sprinkled them on the bed. Then proceeded to put some wine and fruits on their side table and changed the lamps to candles which were various winter scents. Katniss smiled to herself and sat on the bed, liking her creation and thinking about the proposal.

xXx

_The nightmares had returned in the most brutal way possible. Katniss had been waking up screaming nearly every night and sobbing as the visions of Rue, Cinna, Finnick and Prim's deaths surrounded her mind. Also the revisiting of when Peeta hated her took over. Peeta just happened to be spending the night when a torrential rainfall surrounded them and he woke up to her trashing around in her bed and he tried to sustain her while coaxing her to wake up. She woke up with a start and clung to him while letting out harsh sobs. _

"_Whats wrong baby?" he asked lifting up her head, looking into her eyes. _

"_Nightmares.." she coughed out. _

_Peeta lifted her onto his lap and held her tightly as she snuggled against him, "Shh, I'm here…nothing going to hurt you when I'm here…" he cooed as he rocked back and forth, trying to calm the other girl. _

"_So many deaths…" she whispered._

"_I know baby…I know…" Peeta said and peppered kisses on her face, "Just relax,"_

"_They aren't coming back…" Katniss sobbed. _

"_But they are watching over you. They are also protecting you. They want you to be happy.." Peeta said._

_Katniss nodded, "Lay with me?" _

"_Yeah.." Peeta said and Katniss crawled back under the covers and he got in behind her and pulled her against him and kissed the back of her neck and slowly felt her fall back asleep He smiled and stayed close to her, promising her that he won't let anything hurt her. _

_The next day, the leaves were beginning to fall and Katniss was hunting in the woods with Peeta watching._

"_You know, you are still loud." She joked._

_Peeta walked over and picked her up, accepting a fit of giggles from his love and he smiled and kissed her. She kissed back. "What do you think about our future?"_

"_I can see us together."_

"_With Children?"_

"_Probably not…"_

"_Why not?"_

"_I can't have them living with our pasts."_

"_We can tell them when they are ready."_

"_I know."_

_Peeta put her down and kissed her again. "I love you."_

"_How much?" she replied and looked up at him._

"_This much…" he whispered and lowered down onto one knee._

_Katniss felt the tears return yet again, damn him for making her so emotional and she covered her mouth with her hand as he began to speak._

"_Katniss Everdeen, ever since you sang that song, I was captivated by you. I wanted to protect you, but I never thought I had a chance to talk to you. I am thankful for the Hunger games because of that and only that. Those Games brought you and I together and when I was under the control of the Capitol, I was not thinking straight. You brought me back, and even though the venom still runs though my veins, you bring me back. Please let me protect you for forever and become my wife." _

_He opened up the small box and there was a simple silver ring with the pearl he gave Katniss nestled in between a couple diamonds, Katniss nodded, "Yes" she whispered and he slipped the ring on her finger and picked her up in his arms again and kissed her, some tears running down his own face. He spun them around and she giggled. "We're getting married baby!" he said with a grin and she nodded._

_The wedding was much like what Peeta and Delly would have had. But this time, it just felt right and seeing Peeta at the end of that aisle while Katniss walked down, holding the primroses and feeling like a princess just made everything better. It was almost a year to the day. _

"…_and this is what should of happened the first time!" Haymitch ended his speech which received some laughter in the audience. Katniss looked at Peeta as he slipped the ring on her finger and she slipped his ring on his finger. They both took a bit of bread and fed it to each other and sealed it with a kiss. Cheered erupted as Haymitch announced, "Mr and Mrs. Peeta Mellark!"_

_Peeta grabbed the bread and wrapped an arm around Katniss and they departed to their house to finish off what was left of the bread._

xXx

Katniss smiled at the love that was made that night. She perked up when she heard the phone ring and crawled over to the phone and picked it up.

"This is Katniss." She said.

"Hey baby, there was an emergency at the bakery and I don't know what time I'll be home."

"Peeta, it's our first Christmas eve together. I had plans.."

"I know, I know. I'll try and be home soon. I love you."

"I love you too," Katniss said with a sigh and hung up the phone. Katniss got up and slipped on the heels and laid back down on the bed. She looked over at the clock. It was nearing six and she glanced up and looked up at the ceiling. "Why today?" she asked.

Around 11, Katniss was curled up and asleep. Peeta walked through the front door and looked at the fuss on the ground and walked over to the kitchen and dropped off his keys and the box of Christmas cupcakes before walking upstairs and following the snow and opened the door only to be greeted with sweet smells that are caused by candlelight. He looked around then saw his wife asleep on the bed, she looked disappointed. Peeta sat down on the bed and moved some hair out of her face and leaned down and kissed her softly, not even caring about what she was wearing.

Katniss stirred and her eyes fluttered open. "Peeta?" she asked.

"Yeah.."

"What time is it?"

"Near midnight. I'm so sorry Katniss, I really didn't expect that to happen."

"It's alright."

"No it's not, everything is so beautiful, and you look so amazingly sexy." Peeta kissed her jaw and down to her neck where he sucked on a bit of skin. Katniss whimpered and pushed him away gently and he moved so he was leaning against the headboard with a smirk and she straddled his legs. He rested her hands on the curve of her waist and she fixed her hair, in the process she arched her back to give him the full effect.

Peeta took in a sharp breath and ran his hands up and down her sides and he leaned forward and planted gentle kissed over her chest and she ran her fingers through his hair. "I had more planned… but it's getting late."

"God, Katniss, you, like this, it's all I need. " He said, looking up at her. "You are my Christmas present."

Katniss kissed him softly and started unbutton his shirt and pulled it off, "Merry Christmas, Peeta." She said with a smile and kissed him again.

"Merry Christmas, Katniss." He murmured then flipped her over and proceeded to show her how much he loved her.


End file.
